Peter Dawkins


The 1960s saw the rise of the producer in New Zealand, as HMV/EMI hired and trained talented in-house producers to create recordings of New Zealand artists at their upgraded facility in Wellington.

The standard was very high and names like Alan Galbraith, Howard Gable and Nick Karavais appear on countless iconic local recordings. And then there was Peter Dawkins ...

Peter Dawkins in the control room at HMV studio in Wellington. The pair of 2-track Ampex tape recorders were used primarily for either tape echo or mastering from 4-track to stereo.
Peter Dawkins in the 1960s
Peter Dawkins with The New Nadir at the Speakeasy, London 1967
Peter Dawkins behind a drum kit on boat on the Rhine in Germany
Craig Scott and Peter Dawkins with the 1971 Loxene Golden Disc for Smiley.
The New Nadir - Ed Carter, Peter Dawkins and Gary Thain
The 8 O'Clock after the 1970 Loxene Golden Disc Awards, where Peter Dawkins' productions took out every category in a never-repeated clean sweep
Dragon - April Sun In Cuba
Timaru's The Falcons with Peter Dawkins on drums
Mi-Sex - Computer Games
Peter Dawkins in 1973 at the faders of a Rupert Neve-built Abbey Road special at the EMI studio in Sydney. The original desk, installed in 1973, was updated in 1975 and the studio later renamed Studio 301.
Dragon's massive selling O Zambesi album, produced by Peter Dawkins, included the Australasian No.1 Are You Old Enough?
Peter Dawkins, Sydney in the late 1970s
In HMV Studio, Wellington in the late 1960s or early 1970s
HMV artists in 1969, including The Avengers, Top Shelf, Simple Image, Quincy Conserve, Yolande Gibson, Steve Allen, Allison Durbin, Brendan Dugan, with producers Howard Gable and Peter Dawkins
Gold discs from CBS Australia for the debut Mi-Sex album, 1979. Producer Peter Dawkins is second from right.
The New Nadir with Peter Dawkins, Gary Thain and Ed Carter
Radio With Pictures - My Kind of Town - 1981 documentary directed by Simon Morris, featuring interviews with producer Peter Dawkins, Sharon O’Neill, future Warratahs Barry Saunders and Nick Theobald during their time as the Tigers, Dragon’s Marc Hunter, Kevin Stanton of Mi-Sex, and Dave McArtney.
Alan Galbraith and Peter Dawkins at work at HMV. A Playdate news item by Bill Taylor, March 1970 
The New Nadir in their best fab gear before their tour between Zurich and Winterthur during the 1967 Summer of Love. The trio had earlier recorded an all-originals demo at Eurex Studio on the outskirts of Zurich that helped gain them a recording session with Polydor in London. From left: Peter Dawkins, Ed Carter and Gary Thain.
Me And The Others, taken at the PNN Club in Munich, with (l to r) the late Gary Thain (bass), Peter Dawkins (drums, vocals), and guitarists Dave Chapman (centre) and Paul Muggleston (right).
Shane - Saint Paul
Peter Dawkins with Quincy Conserve at HMV studio in early 1971. From left: Denys Mason, John McCormick, Rufus Rehu, Barry Brown-Sharpe, Dave Orams, Richard James Burgess, and Malcolm Hayman. Seated are Peter Dawkins and engineer Peter Hitchcock. Visible behind Rehu is the top unit of the 4-track Ampex tape recorder.
Peter Dawkins interview, Give It A Whirl, 2003 (NZ On Screen, 2022)
Peter Dawkins with Dragon in Sydney
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HMV


CBS


Columbia


Polydor


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